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Quote of the Month

When love and skill work together, expect a miracle. John Ruskin

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Create Cool Comics

Just as promised in my last blog I have been snoping around for some great comic creator sites. All these online applications have been tested by yours truly this evening. Some of the creators can be used immediately. At others you need to register by selecting a username, a password and by giving them your email address. For two of them, which are highly regarded, payment is necessary after a fourteen day trial.

At Comic Creator (part of the ReadWriteThink web site) the user is guided step-by-step in selecting a layout template, pre-determined characters, speech balloons with text and props. The comics can be printed but not saved. The user can access this site and use it without registration. ReadWriteThink has a printable draft form for students to use and accompanying lessons at various grade levels.

Using Make Beliefs, where no registration is required, your comics are created from their characters whose expressions you can choose. Speech balloons with text in seven languages can be inserted along with choosing layout, background color, additional objects and panel prompts which give it the added look of traditional comics. You can print your creation or send it to an email address.

In addition to allowing the creation of action comic strips Artisan Cam hosts 20 activities to feed your artistic appetite. For the comic creations they have figures, backgrounds and speech balloons available. Upon completion the option of printing or sending to a gallery is offered.

The final web site for comic creation in which you do not need to register is BeFunky. Rather than creating a strip you can create a single comic image from your digital photographs. But this site is so much more. The results are immediate without all the instruction necessary to using a product such as Adobe Photoshop. If experimenting with all types of visual effects is what you desire, this is the place to go. Consider this my new favorite creative graphic web site.

ToonDoo, PikiKids and Witty Comics asks the user to list a username, password and their email address.
In my opinion these sites would be for upper elementary and middle school students. PikiKids uses digital photographs from Flickr or your own computer. You can store photographs in an online gallery. It allows you to select a layout, frame and border colors and arrangements, speech bubbles and other effects.Witty Comics has their own characters, speech balloons and scenes for you to use in your comic creation of initially three frames. ToonDoo is the most confusing of the sites. The layout is busy making navigation difficult. Once you get to the comic creator you use their characters, backgrounds, props and balloons.

Pixton For Schools and Bitstrips for Schools are more sophisticated comic creators which cater specifically to the educational community focusing on the value of comic strips in improving student writing. Fourteen day trials are available prior to purchase.

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About Me

I began teaching as a school librarian in 1973. It has been the single best decision that I have ever made. Every morning during the school year I can hardly wait to see my students to explore what we can discover together.